Exercise Terms

If you are new to working out, don't be intimidated by all of the exercise terms you see on the web and in magazines.

Look over the below list and before you know it, you will be speaking the lingo yourself!

AMRAP - As Many Reps As Possible during a certain time period - this makes it personal!

Active Recovery:
Instead of hanging out at the water fountain at the gym, make the most
of your time between sets or circuits: stretch the muscles you are using
or perform 2-3 minutes of cardio like jumping jacks, an elliptical
machine or the treadmill.

Barbells/dumbbells: Barbells are long and usually held with both hands. Dumbbells are the shorter ones – usually one is held in each hand.

Basic Metabolic Rate (BMR): This
is the minimum amount of calories that you need to exist -to breathe
and digest food. Also known as Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR).

Beats Per Minute (BPM): Heart rate per minute - a great gauge of how hard you are working.

Bodybuilding: Most people
consider bodybuilding to mainly focus on how you LOOK in the mirror and
overall body symmetry. This is done by focusing on individual muscles
with mostly isolation exercises.

Many bodybuilders do it as a hobby and
some enter competitions. Bodybuilders typically look more bulky
and muscular, while people who focus on functional training, training
for sports or weight loss have a more lean, athletic look...

Circuit: A chain of exercise sets done back to back, usually involving big muscle groups. Circuits
energize muscles AND give you a cardio workout at the same time! A
complete circuit is called a “Round”.

Functional Training:
This is an exercise term that means training the body as a whole to
work together to better perform daily tasks or specific sports.
Training the core and practicing full ranges of motion are major
components. In my opinion, functional training and exercising to lose weight - and should be - the same thing!

Intensity: This is how difficult an exercise or exercise session is. It must be challenging for whatever level you are.

Personal Record (PR): Your personal best of a lift or a time.

Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE): A self measure of how hard you perceive you are working during a rep or a bout of cardio.

Repetition (rep):
One complete movement of an exercise. One repetition of a pushup would
be starting on the floor and pushing up, and then the lowering part,
returning to the start position.

1RM: 1 rep max. The most you can lift for 1 rep.

Rest: This is the brief time between sets where you recover (see "Active
Recovery"). This varies, depending on your level and your goals.
For most weight loss exercises, 30 seconds to one minute are typical.

Resting Heart Rate (RHR): What your HR is at rest.

Set: A group of reps done non-stop. 10 reps of pushups is 1 set. (When written out, sets and reps are usually shown as follows: 3 sets of 10 reps: 3x10.)

Superset: Usually involving
opposing muscle groups like back (pulling) and chest (pushing) where one
set of each is performed back to back with little or no rest. Some
people define supersets as doing 2 or more of any two or three exercises
like pushups/squats or overhead presses/lunges. Strength training: Resistance training used to challenge muscles.

Target Heart Rate: Measuring your HR is one of the methods to gauge the intensity of workout.

VO2Max: Measured
by wearing an airtight mask, hooked to a machine, while running on a
treadmill or exercise bike Its a measure of how well your body uses
oxygen during maximal exertion. The more fit you are, the better you
can utilize oxygen.

Warm-up set: A set of reps done with light weight or no weight to warm up the muscles.

Working sets: These are the sets done after a warm up. Working sets should be challenging, or you are not WORKING the muscles.

What are some exercise terms that you have heard that are missing from this list? Let me know and I will add them!